History of Wake Forest College, Volume IV (1943-1967)
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War and Its Aftermath 3 There was on the campus a slight air of feast and famine, because Old Gold and Black, "covering the campus like the magnolias" not only for the students but also for the "Fighting Financiers," reported that feeding the soldiers for one day typically required 2,880 eggs, 200 pounds of bacon, 6o pounds of butter, 3,600 containers of milk, 600 grapefruit, 1,200 boxes of cereal, 7,200 slices of bread, 24 pounds of coffee, 1,050 pounds of chicken, 400 pounds of potatoes, 300 pounds of carrots, 200 pounds of green beans, 40 pounds of apple jelly, 172 quarts of ice cream, 625 pounds of pork chops, 8 bushels of apples, 150 pounds of cabbage, 50 dozen ears of corn, and 35 gallons of canned fruit. Many of these items had vanished completely from civilian tables. The students tended to joke about the ironies, and campus poet Arthur Earley penned a wry elegy to the College Book Store: Here lies the body of C. B. Store, He went through hell And he cried for more. He's laid away now and this be his text, "I gave up the ghost to the Army PX." The military directors on the campus tended not to joke, however. In a bold-face appeal headed "Button Your Lip," Capt. Carl W. Funke, finance school adjutant, asked the students not to talk about army affairs. He wrote: There is a grapevine in Wake Forest, a grapevine rooted in carelessness that, if allowed to continue, will produce delicious fruit to our enemies. This grapevine must be destroyed. Those who are cultivating this growth are perhaps unaware of the un- patriotic service they render when they repeat information about military activities. In a small town, where everyone knows everyone, it is difficult to keep military information within its properly restricted channels. Therefore, increased watchfulness is necessary. If you overhear a casual statement concerning departure of men from the Army Finance School, forget it, don't repeat it. If you know (and you probably do know) someone working in headquarters, don't ask them questions about anything of a military nature. If they volunteer information, remind them that enough phrases of carelessly revealed information will make up a book of plans for our enemies. We cannot have Axis-aiding grapevines anywhere. Talk about the weather, talk about the war, but don't talk about military activities.